This is really less a movie than an extended television episode and none the worse for that. As someone who grew up on early 1960s TV shows, I found myself wondering at times where the laugh track was. Don Beddoe plays a priest in a parish in the wrong end of town where the parishioners are mainly grifters and petty toughs who take advantage of his generosity, or so his monsignor (Addison Richards) and housekeeper (Ellen Corby) think. Their only sin seems to be playing the horses. There is the usual former troublesome teen who has made good, gotten a good job and married and now finds himself in need of the good priest's aid. This precipitates a confused situation involving a stolen car, a robbery, mistaken identity, and some tough guys with hearts of gold. If you have an hour or so to spare you could do worse than this genial little film. And keep IMDb open to check the different familiar character actors you'll see. Also, no matter what IMDb and the actual credits say, it's "Pythias," not "Phineas"; take a listen near the end. And a minor point perhaps but the writers' knowledge of Catholic church practice is a bit off since a pastor answers to his bishop, not to a monsignor.
Review of Saintly Sinners
